


Stranded

by TheBeckster



Category: Harvest Moon, Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns
Genre: Gen, Mild Blood, Peril, Pre-Canon, Wilderness Survival, all aboard the childhood trauma boat!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:34:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24816925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBeckster/pseuds/TheBeckster
Summary: Desperate for an adventure to break up the interminable boredom of a long summer, three kids set to the high seas and get way more adventure than they ever hoped for or wanted.AKA: Let's explore the Lulukoko Trio's shared childhood trauma!
Relationships: Iluka & Siluka, Ludus & Iluka, Ludus & Siluka
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	1. How Far We'll Go

**Author's Note:**

> My summary makes this sound like some children's novel lmao. Join me for a fun adventure when I try and remember the details from in-game events that I haven't seen in ohh probably two years. *shrug* ~~I have writer's block and I'm currently very desperate for validation. So all my WIPS are coming out of the closet~~ I actually had planned to post thiss ever since I started writing it (a year and a half ago) but I've been picking at it so slowly I thought it was never gonna get done. And then came writer's block, and I went to work on something completely different than my current WIPS and here we are.
> 
> And No, I didn't listen to the Moana soundtrack a lot while writing this. Why ever would you ask that?????
> 
> Anywho, I don't think I've ever really written anything like this. Both the island survival adventure and preteen characters. We'll see how this goes. Should be fun!
> 
> Enjoy!  
> -Becks

* * *

**Chapter 1: How Far We'll Go**

"I want to go on an adventure!"

This declaration was met with almost equal levels of disinterest from both of Iluka's companions.

"We hiked the mountain yesterday," Ludus reminded her, returning to his whittling.

"No hikes today," Siluka muttered, barely cracking an eye open to look at her twin.

The three preteens were gathered together beneath the shade of the banana orchard, watching another lazy summer day pass. Ludus was peeling the bark off whatever sticks and twigs he had collected around the village. His grandfather had shown him how to whittle and had gifted him his first pocket knife just yesterday. He was quite content to spend the afternoon working on that.

Siluka preferred to alternate between reading and napping more than anything in the summer warmth. Her latest book had already been picked up and abandoned twice in the last hour.

Iluka was the only one having trouble with boredom after giving up on the book she was reading. She huffed and pouted at the lack of response her declaration roused.

"If you're so bored, why don't you go practice your auras, or whatever you two do with Nana all the time," Ludus suggested, stripping a perfect curl of bark all the way down the length of the twig.

"You know Gran and Gramps are busy today."

Ludus shrugged. His grandparents were working with some of the men in the village to fix a leaking portion of the Inn roof. It was urgent and tricky work. As such, he and the twins had been instructed to stay out from underfoot for the day. “’S not my fault you’re bored.” He succeeded in getting another perfect wooden curl.

Iluka watched contemptuously for a moment and then tutted impatiently. "You're obsessed with that stupid knife. You're not even doing anything with it except shredding up twigs."

"Gramps says I should get used to the blade before I try a real project." Ludus wasn't going to give Iluka the satisfaction of starting a fight.

Even thought he had been working with it for over a day, the knife still felt a little ungainly in his hands. It was a large, heavy thing; a utility knife with a folding blade and a serrated portion for sawing. _A man's tool_ , his grandfather had emphasized, _not a child's toy_. If any adult in the village saw Ludus playing with it irresponsibly they could take it away from him and he'd never get it back. Ludus had solemnly accepted his Grandfather's ultimatum. He was thirteen now; it was time he began acting like a grown man.

"Whatever." Iluka rolled her eyes. "I think you just like showing off." The twelve-year old got a mean glint in her eyes. "What? You think you're gonna attract a woman with that thing? You're a scrawny little boy playing with his new toy. Nobody would take you seriously."

Ludus scowled at Iluka as he folded his blade up. "It's not a toy."

"Looks like one in your tiny hands."

"Go bother someone else, Iluka. I’m not going to fight with you."

"Maybe I don't want to."

The two fell silent, glaring daggers at each other. Iluka was being a pest on purpose, but Ludus couldn't make her go away. He'd already been grounded once this week for fight with her.

The silence was broken by a soft, "What kind of adventure?"

The tension was broken and immediately forgotten now that Siluka had decided to indulge her twin's fantasy in favor of restoring the peace.

"The best kind!" Iluka snatched up her book and thrust the cover into Siluka's face. "Let's go find an uncharted island!"

Siluka's eyes lit up as she reached for the book. The front cover was printed with the image of a large ship – an old Spanish galleon. A crew could be seen working in the background, climbing the rigging and swabbing the deck. The ocean sparkled in the sunlight below a clear sky. But the primary focus of the cover was the captain of the ship, a pirate judging from the motley manner of his clothes and his ruggedly handsome face. He stood at the bow of the ship, a spyglass in one hand and his other arm wrapped around the waist of a beautiful pirate wench. It was titled _The Curse of Dawn's Treasure and Other Adventurous Tales of the High Seas_.

Ludus rolled his eyes. He knew that book well as it had been a birthday present last year. "Those are just fairy tales."

"Well I know that!" Iluka rolled her eyes back. Her voice dripped with impatience. "Of course there's no cursed gold or pirate ghosts, but that doesn't mean we can't go find an uncharted island! We might find a lost civilization, or a shipwreck full of treasure! Just think about it!"

Ludus considered the notion. If they made a monumental discovery like that they could become rich or famous! They could go down in history! In reality though... "We'll probably just find empty desert islands."

Iluka shoved the book into his chest. “Don’t be such a wet blanket! Imagine us,” she leapt to her feet, brandishing one of Ludus' whittling sticks like a cutlass, "The sun high in the sky, nothing but the open sea around you and the clear sky over head. Who knows what we could find out there!" She turned to the others beaming. "The three of us will write history. Captain Iluka and her loyal crew, mapping the great unknown! Just like our parents!"

"Let's do it!" Siluka cheered, springing to her feet.

"Hold on!" Ludus scrambled to his feet as well, "How come you get to be captain? I'm older and bigger and stronger."

Iluka put her hands on her hip "Because it was _my_ idea. And I'm much smarter than you. Everyone knows the Captain is the smartest, not the strongest. Brains over brawn, Lulu."

"You made that up."

"Did not! It's in the book. Plus, my mom says it all the time. It's why she's captain and our dad isn't."

"Then I want to be first mate."

"Siluka is my first mate," Iluka stated with the same tone she would use as if she were reminding Ludus that the sky was blue.

"Well then what am I?"

Iluka tapped her chin. "Hmm.... how about the cook?"

"I don't want to be the cook!"

"Well then what do you want to be? If you don't pick something, I'm making you a deckhand."

The answer was ready on Ludus' tongue. "I want to be the engineer. Like my dad."

Iluka smiled. "Fine then. I guess every ship needs an engineer to fix any damage. The open sea can be a rough and dangerous place."

Siluka was bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet, her face glowing with excitement. “So when do we leave?”

“Well,” Iluka considered the cover of her book again. “We might be out at sea for a while, so we should be sure we gather up enough supplies. And it’s already kind of late; we want a whole day of exploring to see what we can find. We should go first thing tomorrow morning.”

“We better make a good plan,” Ludus said, “Otherwise if the adults find out they’ll never let us go alone.”

“Nana and Grandpa have let us go out in the boats on our own before,” Siluka reminded Ludus.

“Yeah, but never beyond the cove. That’s for the experienced fishermen and sailors.”

Iluka brightened and straightened up. “Well, let’s ask a fisherman for some advice. We could… we could ask Zahau!” Her cheeks pinked slightly at her own suggestion, something which neither her twin nor Ludus were tactless enough to point out.

“Are the fishermen back yet?” Siluka asked, hurrying to the beach side of the banana grove.

Farther down the beach they could see the fishing boats pulled up on shore, well above the tide line, and a group of people milling about.

“They are, let’s go!” Iluka grabbed her sister by the wrist and pulled her down the beach at a run.

Ludus quickly pocketed his knife and gave chase. They arrived excited and breathless to the boats and pushed through the active crowd. It had been a good haul today, and the fishermen and merchants were busy sorting through the catch in smaller groups. The kids skirted the pockets of older fishermen until they found the most boisterous crowd; the younger adults.

Holding court in the center of the group, sorting through his boat’s catch with Caolila on his right, was Zahau. He was in the middle of setting up a joke and had caught the rapt attention of his peers. The kids pushed into the circle, eager to hear the punchline. Zahau always told the funniest jokes.

“And then, the bartender says to the man—“ He cut off when he saw the preteens join them. “Ah… he said ‘well, that’s just... a real... shame’… yep.” The failure of the punchline was evident on the faces of his peers, but he was quick to call out, “Hey kiddos! What brings you three troublemakers over here?”

Iluka, for all she had fashioned herself the leader of their expedition, suddenly found herself struck dumb when asked a direct question by Zahau. Ludus knew Siluka wasn’t going to speak up to the grownups, so he stepped forward. “We were wondering if you could tell us what it’s like to sail outside the cove.”

“Yeah? Interested in some deep sea fishing, are you?”

“Something like that…”

Zahau and the other adults laughed fondly. “Sure thing. Well teach you everything we know. But this knowledge doesn’t come free.” He gestured to the fish in the center of their circle. “There’s catch to sort and nets to mend. If you’re gonna listen, you’re gonna work too.”

Neither of the kids were surprised at that. There was always something to be done around the village, and if one could be put to work, one was, regardless of age. Ludus didn’t mind as he and the twins settled into the now widened circle and pulled a basket of fish towards him. Doing the work made him feel grown up, _and_ he had an occasion to use his knife as a real tool. And even better, one of the fishermen complimented his new knife.

The fishermen were eager to expound on their knowledge of the deep sea, in part to teach the kids, but in greater parts to show off to the other young adults of the village who were helping with the catch. The flirting and sweet talking passing between adults was enough t make Ludus roll his eyes at the fish he was gutting.

Ludus thought dating was weird, and he really didn’t _get_ ‘crushes’ either. Maybe it was because the only girls in the village his age were the twins. But he knew that Zahau and Caolila had recently started dating, and they had been weird ever since then. Ludus knew the both of them pretty well, since for years they were the go-to babysitters for him and the twins when his grandparents were busy. Zahau had always had time to play with Ludus, or teach him about fishing or something else, and he knew that the twins liked spending ‘girl time’ with Caolila. But that had changed with Zahau started dating Caolila, and now whenever they saw the two of them together, Iluka constantly switched between making moony eyes at Zahau and throwing daggers at Caolila.

Was he going to be like that when he got older?

Ew, no thank you.

By the time everything had been sorted and repaired, they had picked Zahau and the other fishermen’s brains so thoroughly for information, the three of them were certain they could handle anything the sea threw at them. They left the beach and the fishermen to plot and plan and make a list of supplies they would need. Food and fresh water were a necessity, as there was no guarantee if or when they would find an island with edible food and drinkable water. To supplement that, they could always fish, so they would need to take some gear. Other basic tools, in case the boat was in need of repairs. Bandages and medicine in case of accidents. A couple changes of clothes, and instruments to navigate. It seemed like a lot, but when split between the three of them it wasn’t too much. And with them each gathering their supplies individually, it was less likely that an adult would ask what they were up to and put a stop to their adventure before it even began.

By the time they were called for dinner, each of them had a backpack filled with everything they would need for their voyage. And they were each so excited that they hardly spoke at dinner, or paid attention to anything Tototara said to them.

Ludus hardly slept that night, and in the next room over, he could hear the twins whispering through the night. When the next morning dawned, despite hardly sleeping, he felt energized. He could barely sit still through his rushed breakfast.

“So what are you three going to be up to today?” Tototara asked, distractedly setting a bowl of mixed fruit and oatmeal before Siluka. Her eyes went skyward when Siluka dutifully informed her that they were going to find an uncharted island before her twin could slap her hand over her mouth and shut her up. “That sounds fun,” she muttered, frowning at the sky through the ceiling. An urgent look of unease settled on her face. “Make sure you clean wash your dishes, when you’re done. I need to go to the temple.”

She swept from the kitchen, muttering under her breath about changing auras.

The kids wasted little time shoveling down their food and scrubbing their plates and bowls clean. They wanted to get onto the sea as soon as possible so they would have their best chance of finding an island before nightfall. And who knew when Siluka's words would register to Tototara and she'd come storming the beach to stop them.

The sun was still barely over the horizon when they snuck down to the beach. They had a stroke of luck when they discovered that the fishermen hadn’t gone out that morning, and all of the boats were waiting on the shore. The picked out one of the smaller ones, big enough for the three of them, but small enough for them to handle on their own. Moving quickly and quietly, they pushed the boat into the water, and soon enough were sailing out to sea.

Ludus felt his stomach doing excited backflips with every wave they crested, and he was practically trembling with excitement.

“Off we go!” Iluka announced, striking a pose at the bow of the ship. “Into uncharted waters and forward to fame and glory!”

It wasn’t long before they lost sight of Lulukoko’s shore, and then the mountain disappeared behind the horizon as well. They moved ever eastward, and were pleased to find the ocean was calm for them that day. The three of them kept their eyes peeled in different directions for any sight of land.

By noon, they had found nothing. By three o’clock, they had still found nothing, but also gone through half of Ludus’ rationed food and fresh water. Boredom had set in long ago. Siluka had started asking to go back home after just a few hours at sea. She wasn’t allowed to nap in case she missed an island, and she was over the excitement. Ludus had begun to ask with her after noon, he was hot and tired and bored and didn’t like being stuck on their tiny boat for so long. Iluka maintained her fervor for adventure as long as she could, but even she had her limits. With several hours of complaining from the others, and a fat load of nothing showing up on the horizon, she finally broke down.

“You’re right, this was stupid. Let’s turn around and go home.”

Ludus worked the sail and rudder and turned them around to head back to Lulukoko. Heavy dread sank into his stomach. They had been on the water for almost ten hours, and it would take just as long to get back home. “We are going to be in so much trouble when we get home.”

Iluka sighed, slumped forlornly in the bottom of the boat. “We have plenty of time to think of a good explanation. Maybe they’ll only ground us for ten years instead of twenty.”

“We’ll be lucky if they ever let us on a boat again,” Siluka mumbled, braiding the same three pieces of rope she had been doing up and undoing for the last hour.

With their mood significantly dimmed, Ludus said nothing as they sailed home. With the calm seas, they had been able to keep a relatively straight path east, and now they could follow the setting sun west. And it being the height of summer, they would have sunlight to follow for at least five more hours. The wind seemed to be favoring them, as a firm westward breeze was pushing their sail with more urgency than the wind had been all day.

The seas were favorable for another hour. Then the wind grew stronger and the waves got choppier. Nothing they hadn’t handled before in their bay, but if the water had gotten this rough back there, they would have turned tail for the shore and been safe in just a few minutes. Out here, they still had hours to go.

A gust of wind brought a chill up Ludus’ spine and he caught the scent of rain. He turned to look behind them for the storm clouds. His heart stopped. “Oh no.”

A solid wall of dark gray, almost black clouds had devoured the eastern sky. What had been cloudless and sunny just a couple hours ago was now dark as night. This wasn’t just any storm coming up behind them. It was a typhoon.

“We’re going to die!” One of the twins shrieked.

“What do we do?” Cried the other.

Ludus didn’t see who said what, as he had to turn his attention back to the front of the ship. They were skipping across the water now and a greater speed than he’d ever managed on the boat before, the winds were pushing them forward and it was all he could do to keep them on track and heading for home.

“Iluka, you’re captain, what do we do?” Siluka had to raise her voice over the wind and crash of waves.

“I-I don’t know! There wasn’t supposed to be a hurricane! The boat… Ludus! How fast are we going? Can we get back before the storm catches up?”

Ludus glanced at the twins. The wind was whipping their hair around and the sea was kicking up spray that was quickly soaking them all. He looked to the sky, and even after just a minute or two the storm seemed so much closer. “I-I-I don’t know! The wind is strong, we’re going faster. We might make it.”

He didn’t know why he lied. It was an automatic response, because he knew deep in his gut that there was no way they would outpace the storm and get home in time. The twins seemed fortified by his lie and false confidence, though, so he kept issuing orders.

“Tie everything down, all the bags and supplies. We don’t want to lose anything if the boat capsizes. Make sure it’s all secure.”

By the time they did that, the sky above them was covered fully in clouds, and they were quickly encroaching on the western sky. Ludus lost the sun behind the clouds so he had to rely on his compass. The clouds above at least were a light gray, and not the near black wall of the storm behind them. The wind and waves didn’t get worse for a little while, but then it started raining and everything started going wrong.

The wind whipped in every direction. The waves got bigger and wilder. Ludus couldn’t control the boat anymore. The rudder was yanked from his grip by the thrashing current, and the winds were ripping the sail to shreds.

They were nowhere close to home.

There was nothing they could do.

Ludus, Iluka, and Siluka huddled together in the bottom of the boat, holding onto each other and the boat for dear life. They were going to die. They knew there was no way to survive this.

The hurricane finally hit with all its fury. Their little boat was tossed around helplessly on the waves. The boat was half filled with water and in danger of capsizing with every mountainous wave. Lightning flashed all around them and the roar of thunder was constant. Ludus thought he might go deaf from all the noise, between the driving rain, the roaring thunder, the crashing waves, the howling wind, and whoever was screaming and sobbing.

Then there was a blinding flash, and a horrendous crack, and the whole boat shuddered like they had rammed full force into a rock. Ludus barely got a look at their mast, exploding in the lightning strike, before it crashed down atop of them.

Then everything went black.


	2. Fish Pee In You! All Day!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Lulukoko trio find themselves washed up on unfamiliar shores. They aren't very happy about that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mmm... low key forgot about this fic. But I'm working through all my "neglected" WIPs and remembered this one had the next chapter almost ready to go way back in July. Ha, oops.  
> It's a short chapter, and it's only so short 100% because I am continuing with the Moana puns for chapter titles and this one and the next were too good to pass up. So I split what would be one normal-length chapter into two.

Ludus awoke feeling like he had been salted and dried like a piece of fish. Warm water lapped at his feet as the waves crashed on the shore. His mouth was full of salt and sand and every inch of his body hurt. Groaning, he pushed himself upright and sat up. He didn't recognize this beach at all. Lulukoko was in a sheltered cove and he knew every inch of the shore. With a panicked jolt, he scrambled to his feet and looked around. A hundred feet or so down the beach was the wreckage of their boat and two forms lying in the sand. With his heart in his throat, Ludus tore down the beach calling for the twins.

Ludus slid to a stop at the closest body and shook her shoulder roughly. "Siluka! Wake up!"

The younger twin groaned, but thankfully woke up. "What happened? Where are we?"

Ludus ignored her questions and was already shaking Iluka. "Iluka, wake up!" She didn’t respond.

Siluka scrambled to her feet and hovered over Ludus’ shoulder. She stared in horror at her sister. "She isn't...?" She couldn't even bear to finish the thought.

Ludus hauled on Iluka's shoulder to get her to roll face up. She couldn't be dead! She couldn't have drowned in the storm! He pressed shaking fingers to her neck and felt the reassuring thrum of her pulse. He could feel her breathing as well, but there was a thick, dry trail of blood and sand down the side of her face. "She's still breathing."

With a cry, Siluka shoved Ludus out of the way and took up her sister's limp hands in her own. Tears were streaming down her face. "You have to help her. She has to wake up!”

“I-I don’t know what to do,” Ludus stuttered. His brain has screeched to a full stop. They were shipwrecked. He looked around frantically and saw nothing that would suggest people were anywhere close. What if Iluka never woke up? What if they were stranded forever? They were going to starve to death, or die of thirst, or become wild people living on an island with nothing to wear but palm leaves and boiling rocks for soup.

“Ludus!” His cheek stung with a sharp slap. “Snap out of it!” Siluka had stopped crying even if she still looked on the verge of tears.

He drew a shallow, shaking breath, and then several more until his heart stopped pounding in his ears. “You’re right. Now is not the time to panic.”

Siluka’s voice quavered and her finger shook when she pointed. “Help me turn the boat over. Our supplies might have made it. There might be something in there to help Iluka.”

It wasn’t easy lifting the battered and broken boat, but they managed to turn it enough to reveal two of their three backpacks till tied down. They were waterlogged and sand-crusted, but they were intact. Siluka threw a pack at Ludus before tearing into her own.

“Look for first aid stuff.”

Ludus tore into his pack, throwing aside wet clothes, a full canteen, and some packets of food before finding a metal box at the bottom of the bag with a faded red cross on top. “Got it!”

Siluka snatched it from his hands and opened it. “Everything’s still dry,” she breathed to herself. She grabbed a square of gauze and the canteen, after giving it a testing sniff and determining it was still full of fresh water, she poured a couple precious drops out onto the gauze. She focused all her attention on Iluka, and the gash on her head.

The cut went up from her forehead and unto her hair line, but after washing away the sand and dried blood, Siluka could see it was shallow and had already begun forming a scab. She bit her lip and held back a sob. The cut wasn’t that bad, so why wouldn’t Iluka wake up?

She’d read in stories of an unconscious person being woken up by throwing water in their face. Desperately, she reached for the canteen.

“Wait!” Ludus lunged for her hand and stopped her by the wrist. “Not that water. We might need to drink it.”

“Oh, right.” Siluka looked around. Fresh water couldn’t be wasted, but what else was she supposed to do? Drag Iluka into the ocean?

“I’ll go get this soaked.” Ludus grabbed a shirt from the sand.

“Yeah. G-good idea.”

Ludus ran to the water’s edge and threw the shirt in, letting it soak up as much water as possible. He came back and held the dripping garment awkwardly. “D-do I just… wring it out on her face?”

“I guess.” Siluka shrugged.

Ludus grimaced. Iluka didn’t usually take it kindly when _he_ woke her up. Still, he held the shirt out and squeezed. A great splash of water fell onto Iluka’s face and she sputtered and coughed her way into consciousness.

“Ludus!” She shrieked, wiping salt water from her eyes. “I’m going to kill you!”

She got half to her feet before freezing. Her eyes went wide and horrified and she looked around slowly. “Where are we?”

“Not Lulukoko.” Ludus said lowly, tossing the wet shirt back into the sand. “We’re shipwrecked.”

Iluka fell back into the sand with a muffled thud. She pressed her hands over her mouth to muffle the scream. “W-what do we do? How do we get home?”

“How am I supposed to know?” Ludus snapped, crossing his arms tightly. “It’s your fault we’re stuck here, _Captain_. You figure it out.”

“My fault?!” Iluka scrambled to her feet, getting into Ludus’ face.

“Yes, your fault!” Ludus shoved her back. “This was your stupid idea! You wouldn’t let us turn around when we wanted to! And now we’re going to die here and nobody will know what happened to us!”

“Y-yeah! Well, _you’re_ the engineer!” She shoved him back. “Why don’t you fix the boat and get us home!”

Ludus shoved Iluka again, hard enough to make her trip and fall into the sand. “It’s got a big damn crack down the middle! What do you want me to do about it?”

Fire was blazing in Iluka’s eyes as she got to her feet. “You were our navigator! You should have made us turn around sooner!” She reared back, getting ready to hit Ludus.

Ludus raised his own fists in preparation. “You’re supposed to sense the weather! Isn’t that was Nana’s teaching you! Why didn’t _you_ sense the hurricane?!”

Iluka screamed wordlessly in frustration, lunging for Ludus.

“Stop it both of you!” Siluka shouted, startling both of them to a standstill. There were tears in her eyes again. “We’re never going to get out of here if you two are fighting!”

Iluka deflated, dropped her arms, and pulled her younger twin in for a hug. “I’m sorry, you’re right.”

The three of them heaved long sighs and dropped back into the sand, staring out over the water. They were silent for a very long time, each preoccupied with their own storm of thoughts and emotions. Guilt churned darkly in Iluka’s stomach. Siluka was wondering how they might be able to survive until rescue. Ludus was worried about his grandparents; he wasn’t sure how they would handle losing all three of their kids.

“Well,” Siluka ventured, drawing abstract shapes in the sand with her finger. “We accomplished what we set out to do. We found an uncharted island.”

Iluka laughed and dropped her head into her hand to look at her sister. “Yeah, I guess we did.” She frowned and pulled her wet, sticky fingers away to examine them. “Am I bleeding?”


End file.
